USA have sounded alarms for the 19 teams in the T20 World Cup 2024. USA who have been placed in the same group as India and Pakistan are proving that teams should not consider their matches as walkovers in the marquee event. The Monank Patel-led side managed to defend 144 against Bangladesh to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-T20Is series with a six-run win.
USA post below-par total
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bowl first. USA openers got off to a slow start. Steven Taylor pushed the run rate with a six each off Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan. After powerplay overs, they were 42 for no loss. Rishad Hossain in his first over struck twice to dismiss Taylor and Andries Gous. Taylor scored 31 runs from 28 balls. After 10 overs, USA were 68/2. They crossed the 100-run mark in the 15th over as Aaron Jones and Patel scored at a strike rate of little over 100.
Mustafizur came back into the attack and dismissed Jones for a 34-ball 35. Corey Anderson smashed him for a six. In the penultimate over, Anderson lost his wicket to Shoriful Islam. Patel hit a six before getting bowled for a 38-ball 42. In the final over, Harmeet Singh lost his wicket for a two-ball duck to Mustafizur. USA managed to post 144/6 on the board.
Bangladesh choke again
In the run chase, Saurabh Netravalkar dismissed Soumya Sarkar caught and bowled for a golden duck. Tanzid Hasan looked promising but he got bowled by Jessy Singh in the fifth over. Bangladesh were 43/2 after powerplay overs. In the 10th over, Towhid Hridoy and Shanto hit a six each. In the next over, Shanto got run out after a terrible mix-up. The skipper scored 36 runs from 34 balls. In his next over, Anderson knocked over Hridoy. He scored 25 runs from 21 balls.
Shakib took the attack to Taylor and hit him for a six followed by a four in the 14th over. In the next over, Mahmudullah got bowled. Shakib released the pressure with two boundaries off Jessy. Shadley van Schalkwyk on the last ball of his spell got the better of Jaker Ali. In the 18th over, Ali Khan struck twice. First Shakib got bowled for a 23-ball 30. Then, Tanzim Hasan Sakib got out lbw for a two-ball duck. In the penultimate over, Netravalkar dismissed Shoriful. Bangladesh needed 12 runs from six balls. Rishad Hossain hit a boundary off the second ball but edged one to the wicketkeeper as USA won by six runs to seal the series.
Shanto left disappointed
The Bangladesh skipper was left dejected after the toss as he said, “Very disappointing for us. We lost wickets in the middle overs, that was the reason why we lost. We didn't play well, but we have an opportunity to come up with a good plan in the next match. We should change our mindset, it's not about our skills.”
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